Spindle rotating means



June 21, 1966 F. J. RUSSELL ETAL 3,257,133

SPINDLE ROTATING MEANS I Original Filed Feb. 13, 1965 1lllllIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIIF:

INVEN Z7250 J2 RUSEOEREL 650265 3. SoLov/eFF BY 752M112; s, llamalam/ A ORNEYS United States Patent Ofice Patented June 21, 1966 1963. This application Mar. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 441,538

Claims. (Cl. 292-3363) This is a continuation of application Serial No. 258,221, filed February 13, 1963, now abandoned. The invention relates to door locks and-latches which are frequently referred to as front door locks in that they are provided, as a rule, with a thumb actuated latch, often positioned adjacent a handle so that the operator can in'this fashion succeed in rotating the spindle so as to withdraw the latch bolt.

Door latches of the type made reference to have been in common use for many years, but due to the very nature of their mechanism, they have usually possessed various objectionable features. It is therefore among the objects of the invention to provide a new and improved lock mechanism, the spindle of which can be rotated by movement of a thumb piece extending from the outside of the door.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved lock mechanism which has a thumb piece on one side and a conventional operating knob on the other side of the door, both or either of which can be employed to rotate the spindle.

' Still another object of the invention is to provide in a lock mechanism possessed of a thumb piece a new and improved linkage arrangement which will translate movement resulting from manipulation of the thumb piece in one direction to rotational movement for the spindle without excessive physical effort.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved lock mechanism of the typical front door variety having mechanism such that either a conventional rotating knob on the inside or a thumb piece on the outside of the door can be used to rotate a spindle to withdraw a remaining elfective for long periods of time.

With these and others objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 11 of FIGURE 2 showing the device in the position it occupies when mounted on a door.

FIGURE 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 showing the parts in initial position.

FIGURE 3 is a transverse sectional view similar to FIGURE 2 showing the. position of parts at completion of the first part of an operating cycle.

FIGURE 4 is a transverse sectional view similar to FIGURE 2 showing the positions of the parts at completion of the second part of an operating cycle.

In an embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose of illustration, there is shown a fragment of door "10 having an inside face 11 and an outside face 12. At-

tached to the outside face is a frame indicated generally by the reference character 13, and attached to the inside face is a knob 14 rotatably mounted in a bearing 15 forming a portion of a rosette 16. By way of example, the rosette is secured by customary means (not shown) to the door 10 in a position overlying an opening 17. Normally, there is employed a jacket or trim enclosing the frame 13 which here has been omitted in the interest of preserving simplicity, inasmuch as it is unrelated to the specific invention here involved.

The frame 13 which is attached to the outside face 12 of the door 10by conventional means (not shown) consists in the chosen embodiment of an outer plate 18 and an inner plate 19 joined together by suitable fastening. pegs 20. A flange 21 at the lower end of the frame 13 serves to close off the lower portion of a chamber 22 formed between the outer plate 18 and inner plate 19.

A bracket 25 extending outwardly from the outer plate 1'8 and adjacent its lower end serves as a means for pivotally mounting a thumb piece 26 by means of a pivot pin 27. The thumb piece 26 acts like a first class lever in such fashion that a substantially cylindrical extension 29 of the thumb piece 26 extends through an opening 30 in the outer plate 18 and thence through the chamber 22 I and passing into a clearance hole 31 in the inner plate 19. Manipulation of the thumb piece 26 causes the extension 29 to pivotally move through a vertical path of movement relative to the frame 13.

Within the frame 13 is a linkage comprising primarily a first lever arm 32 and a second lever arm 33. The first lever arm 32 is pivotally secured at its left end as viewed in FIGURES 2 3, and 4, to the inner plate 19 by means of a pin 34. At its right end, as viewed in the same figures, the first lever arm 32 is pivotally secured to the lower end of the second lever arm 33 by means of a pin 35. A spring 36 secured at its lower end in a hole 37 in the inner plate 19 is attached to a projection 39 at the upper end of the second lever arm 33'by means of a hole 40. The second lever arm 33 is otherwise held in proper position by employment of a pin 41 secured to the inner plate 19, and extends through a slot 42 in the second lever arm 33, the pin 41 serving to retain the second lever arm 33 in position by presence of a cap 43 on the pin 41 which overlies portions of the second lever arm 33 adjacent the slot 42.

Moreover, in the chosen embodiment, there is shown a square tubular spindle 45 which is secured to the knob 14. The square spindle .45 extends through an aperture 46 shown in broken lines in FIGURES 2, 3, and 4, where it is apparent that the spindle is able to rotate freely in response to operation by the knob 14 so as to manipulate a substantially conventional latch bolt assembly indicated generally by the reference character 47.

Attached nonrotatably to the spindle 45 is a crank arm 48. At the outer or free end of the crank arm is a stub shaft 49 which projects forwardly of the crank arm so as to overlie an upper edge 50 of the second lever arm 33. Normally in the initial position as shown in FIGURE 2 there is a space 51 between the stub shaft 49 and the upper edge-50 to provide a degree of lost motion in the second lever arm 33 when it is to be moved from the initial position of FIGURE 2 to the position of engagement of FIGURE 3. By providing this lost motion. space 51, the spindle 45 is free to be rotated by manipulation of the knob 14 without interference by the linkage incorporating in part the upper edge 50 of the second lever arm 33, when the thumb piece 36 is not being manipulated. Hence the latch bolt assembly 47 can be operated freely in either direction of rotation of the knob 14 at any time.

When it is desired to operate the latch bolt assembly 47 by manipulation of the thumb piece 26, the outer end of the thumb piece 26 is depressed. This causes the extension 29 of the thumb piece 26 to move from the lower position of FIGURES 1 and 2 toward an upper position, the first stage of which is shown in FIG- URE 3. Movement of the extension 29 upwardly causes it to press against the lower edge of the first lever arm I '32 and thereafter to rotate the first lever arm 32 in a direction counterclockwise about the pin 34 for a distance sufiicient to have the upper edge 50 of the second lever arm 33 pass through the space 51 until it engages the stub shaft 49 During this movement, the upper end of the second leverarm 33 is urged or displaced slightly from right to left as viewed in FIGURES 2 and 3 by the angular direction of the upper end of the slot 42 which serves as part of a cam track. This movement will make certain that there is a sufficient portion of the upper edge 50 located beneath and in engagement with the stub shaft 49 so that there will be no question of proper operation. 26 is against tension in the spring 36.

As pressure continues to be exerted upon the thumb piece 26, it will continue to pivot so that the extension 29 continues upwardly in its path of movement against the lower edge of the first lever arm 32 from the position of FIGURE 3 to the position of FIGURE 4. During this further movement, the second lever arm 33 continues to move upwardly as the lower portion of the slot 42 slides past the pin 41. At the same time, the upper edge 50 of the second lever arm 33 continues to move upwardly against the stub shaft 49 on the crank arm 48, forcing the crank arm 48 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction, which in turn rotates the spindle 45 similarly in counterclockwise direction a distance sutlicient to operate the latch bolt assembly 47 for the purpose of Withdrawing its latch bolt and releasing the door in the usual fashion.

When pressure on the thumb piece 26 is released, tension built up in the spring 36 will pull the linkage back from the position of FIGURE 4 to the position of FIG- URE 2. This, of course, removes the upper edge 50 of the second lever arm 33 from its position of engagement with the stub shaft 49 and recreates the lost motion space 51.

By reason of the relationship shown, an appreciable mechanical advantage can be built into the device, so that an excessive amount of pressure need not be exerted upon the thumb piece 26 in order to manipulate the latch bolt assembly 47. It will be understood that the location of the pin 34 with respect to the location of the extension 29 will produce a desired degree of leverage. Further still, the length of the crank arm 48, that is to say the distance from the center of rotation of the crank arm 48 about the spindle 45, and the location of the stub shaft 49, can be controlled both with respect to length as Well as angular direction in order to be most easily operated by engagement of the upper edge 50 with the stub shaft 4-9 throughout the distance which the second lever arm 83 is designed to move.

Further still, by making use of the linkage described in the relationship set forth in detail, it will be further appreciated that all of the parts can be located compactly in the chamber 22 which can be kept very narrow and thus provide a compact, inexpensive retract mechanism, with parts constructed sufficiently ru-ggedly to perform their task in a dependable fashion.

While the invention has herein been shown and described in what is conceived to be a practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention which are not to be limited to the details herein but are to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices.

Manipulation of the thumb piece Having described the invention, what is claimed as new in support of Letters Patent is:

1. In a door lock structure including a frame adapted to be mounted on a door, a spindle rotatably mounted in said structure, a handhold nonrotatably secured to one end of the spindle on one side of the frame, and a crank arm nonrotatbly engaged with the other end of the spindle, the combination of a manually actuable lever pivotally mounted on the frame, one end of said lever having a path of movement relative to said frame, the other end of said lever being on the other side of said frame and comprising a manually actuable thumb piece, and a spindle rotating linkage between said manually actuable lever and the spindle, said linkage comprising a first portion extending across said path of movement, a second portion having one part in pivotal engagement with said first portion and having another part separate from and spaced from said crank arm for free operation of the handhold, said last identified part having a path of movement closing the space between said last identified part and said crank arm, and having a moving engagement thereafter with said crank armin response to actuation by said thumbpiece.

2. In a door lock structure including a frame adapted to be mounted on a door, a spindle rotatably mounted in said structure, a handhold nonrotatably secured to one end of the spindle on one side of the frame, and a crank arm nonrotatably engaged with the other end of the spindle, the combination of a manually actuable lever pivotally mounted on the frame, one end of said lever having a path of movement relative to said frame, the

other end of said lever being on the other side of the .frame and comprising a manually actuable thumb piece,

and a spindle rotating linkage between said manually actuable lever and the spindle, said linkage comprising a first portion extending across said path of movement, a second portion having one part movably engaged with said first portion and having a second part for moving said crank arm, said crank arm having an arc of movement in response to rotation of the handhold on said spindle extending past said second part, said second part having an initial position spaced from said crank arm to permit free rotation of said crank arm past said second part, said second part being movable by operation of said manually actuable lever to an operating position in engagement with said crank arm.

3. In a door lock structure including a frame adapted to be mounted on a door, a spindle rotatably mounted in said structure, a handhold nonrotatably secured to one end of the spindle on one side of the frame, and a crank arm nonrotatably engaged with the other end of the spindle, the combination of a manually actuable lever pivotally mounted on the frame, one end of said lever having a path of movement relative to the frame, the other end of said lever being on the other side of the frame and comprising a manually actuable thumb piece, and a spindle rotating linkage between said manually actuable lever and the spindle, said linkage comprising a first lever arm pivotally mounted at one end on said frame and extending across said path of movement, a second lever arm having one end pivotally attached to said first lever arm and having the other end extending to a location adjacent the crank arm, said second arm having an initial position spaced from said crank arm to permit free rotation of said crank arm past said second arm in response to operation of said handhold.

4. In a door lock structure including a frame adapted to be mounted on a door, a spindle rotatably mounted in said structure and a crank :arm nonrotatably engaged with the spindle, the combination of a manually actuable lever pivotally mounted on the frame and having a path of movement relative to said frame, and a spindle rotating linkage between said manually actuable lever and the spindle, said linkage comprising a first lever arm extending across said path of movement, one end of said arm having a pivotal connection to the frame and the other end of said arm being free for movement, a second lever arm having one end pivotally attached to said first arm and having the other end extending to a location adjacent the crank arm, a cam track on said second arm and a cam on the frame and extending into engagement with said cam track, said second arm having an initial position spaced from said crank arm to permit free rotation of said crank arm past said second arm, said second arm having a series of progressively advanced positions of engagement with said crank arm subject to guidance by said cam and cam track and in response to actuation by said manually actuable lever whereby to first engage and then to rotate said crank and the spindle.

5. In a door-lock structure including a frame adapted to be mounted on a door, a spindle rotatably mounted in said structure and a crank arm nonrotatably engaged with the spindle, the combination of a manually actuable lever pivotally mounted on the frame and having a path of movement relative to said frame, and a spindle rotating linkage between said manually actuable lever and the spindle, said linkage comprising a first lever arm extending across said path of movement, one end of said arm having a pivotal connection to the frame and the other end of said arm being free for movement, a second lever arm having one end pivotally attached to said first arm and having the other end extending to a location adjacent the crank arm, a guide means having one guide element on said second arm and another guide means on the frame and extending into engagement with said one guide element, said second arm having a series of progressively advanced positions of engagement with said crank arm subject to guidance by said guide means and in response to actuation by said mutually actuable lever whereby to first engage and then to rotate said crank and the spindle.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,266,106 12/1941 Voight et a1. 292-l67 X 2,485,054 10/ 1949 Lickteig 292-- 3,173,715 3/1965 Roethel 292223 X PATRICK A. CLIFFORD, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD E. MOORE, Examiner. 

1. IN A DOOR LOCK STRUCTURE INCLUDING A FRAME ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED ON A DOOR, A SPINDLE ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN SAID STRUCTURE, A HANDHOLD NONROTATABLY SECURED TO ONE END OF THE SPINDLE ON ONE SIDE OF THE FRAME, AND A CRANK ARM NONROTATABLY ENGAGED WITH THE OTHER END OF THE SPINDLE, THE COMBINATION OF A MANUALLY ACTUABLE LEVER PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON THE FRAME, ONE END OF SAID LEVER HAVING A PATH OF MOVEMENT RELATIVE TO SAID FRAME, THE OTHER END OF SAID LEVER BEING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID FRAME AND COMPRISING A MANUALLY ACTUABLE THUMB PIECE, AND A SPINDLE ROTATING LINKAGE BETWEEN SAID MANUALLY ACTUABLE LEVER AND THE SPINDLE, SAID LINKAGE COMPRISING A FIRST PORTION EXTENDING ACROSS SAID PATH OF MOVEMENT, A SECOND PORTION HAVING ONE PART IN PIVOTAL ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID 